Investing.com-- Bitcoin price fell slightly on Thursday, seeing little relief after a major rout over the past week as fears of a massive sale event stemming from defunct exchange Mt. Gox kept traders averse towards the token.
Broader sentiment towards crypto was also muted by fears of an upcoming U.S. inflation reading that is likely to factor into the outlook for interest rates. This notion also kept traders heavily biased towards the dollar.
Bitcoin fell 0.3% in the past 24 hours to $61,578.8 by 09:30 ET (13:30 GMT).
Bitcoin price hit by Mt Gox jitters, strong dollar
Liquidators for the defunct crypto exchange Mt Gox said that they planned to begin crypto assets stolen during a 2014 hack by as soon as early-July. The distributions will chiefly consist of large quantities of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.
But given that the Bitcoin being returned to clients will be of a substantially higher value than when it was stolen, traders expect that the receivers of the assets will be more likely to liquidate their holdings, presenting massive selling pressure on Bitcoin.
Mt Gox liquidators were seen mobilizing about $9 billion worth of Bitcoin earlier this year. But their holdings of the token are much more.
Beyond the Mt Gox sales, anticipation of PCE price index data- which is the Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge- also kept investors on their toes.
Strength in the dollar- amid persistent fears of high for longer U.S. interest rates- were a key weight on crypto prices in recent sessions.
Crypto price today: Ether boosted by ETF reports
Among broader cryptocurrency prices, altcoins saw mixed performance as traders remained biased towards the dollar.
World no.2 token Ether rose 2.1% to $3,444.2 after Reuters reported that the SEC could approve a spot Ether ETF as soon as next week.
Other altcoins witnessed mixed gains, with ADA/USD and XRP seeing flat gains in the past 24 hours while Solana jumped more than 7%
Among meme tokens, DOGE/USD fell 0.3%, while Investing.com Shiba Inu Index lost 0.1%.
Ether ETFs could attract $1 billion of net inflows per month, Galaxy Research says
Optimism over a spot Ether ETF saw the token rally sharply through May, but the altcoin was seen giving up a bulk of those gains over the past two weeks, as traders questioned just how much of a price boost a spot ETF could provide.
However, Ether ETFs could attract net inflows of $1 billion per month once they are approved for trading, according to a report from Galaxy Research released on Wednesday.
"We expect the net inflows into ETH ETFs to be 20-50% of the net inflows into BTC ETFs over the first five months, with 30% as our target, implying $1 billion/month of net inflows,” Galaxy analysts wrote.
Ether ETFs are nearing availability in the U.S. after the SEC approved initial filings from applicants last month. For trading to commence, the SEC must also approve their S-1 filings. The first spot bitcoin ETFs were introduced in the U.S. in January.
Like the bitcoin spot ETFs, new demand for the ether versions is anticipated to come from independent investment advisors and broker/dealer platforms, Galaxy’s note added.
The firm pointed out that Ether is likely to be more price sensitive to ETF inflows than Bitcoin due to a significant portion of ETH being locked in staking, bridges, and smart contracts, coupled with a lower amount held on centralized exchanges.
The approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF earlier this year saw the token briefly rally to record highs. But Bitcoin has since remained within a tight trading range and struggled to offer any meaningful near-term returns.